True Play gives us all new eyes

 

In 2022, I started a new program at my library that I called the Tiny True Play Studio.  All of my play programs in the past have focused mainly on the physical, whole-body types of play and this one I wanted to focus more on the sort of play that happens in "art spaces." Each week, I'd bring out paper, markers, stickers, fancy scissors and hole punches, paint and retired COVID sneeze guards (which make excellent easels and painting surfaces, btw) and then step back to see what the kids would do with those materials.

Most adults, when they walked up and saw the program, or when I tried to describe it to them would say to their child, "Oh! An art program! Do you want to draw something, honey?" but I quickly discovered that this program was so much more than a kids' art program.  Although some adults had difficulty resisting the fully understandable urge to instruct their kid to paint or to draw or to make SOMETHING with these art supplies, those who were able to step back were rewarded with some of the most interesting and innovative play I've seen.

 

I observed invented games with acorns, hole punches and paper

 

 the wind became an entertaining play material

 

 

 

 

Scissors became tools to pick up leaves to create a pile to jump in with friends.

 

Markers and caps themselves became objects with which to create a collage/sculpture....

 

And more!

The wonderful thing about this realization is that (1) you likely already have these materials or similar materials on hand.  Play doesn't have to be about purchasing particular materials. (2) You might even already be doing programs that use "art materials" and all it takes is for you to step back and give the caregivers in the program encouragement to allow their kids to explore the materials however they want.  Even if (maybe especially if) it means that you don't have yet another "thing" to take home at the end of the program to stick on your refrigerator. You're welcome.

More True Play during isolation: recognizing play

 We've been safer at home for about 3 months now, so I thought I'd share a few more examples of things that have happened when I let my kids take the lead.

A few days ago, my daughter was having a really tough day.  She was whiny and restless and demanding screen time which I wasn't allowing that day since we'd had a lot the previous few days. Suddenly, in the midst of the moaning and groaning, she picked up our little pocket edition copy of Birds of Wisconsin -- a bird identification book that we've marked over the years whenever we spot a new variety of bird. My daughter went into the living room where we had colored pencils and a drawing pad on the coffee table, opened this book to the page with the cardinal and began to draw.

 Within just a few minutes, she had created this drawing of a cardinal. I noticed the details in my head -- she got the color right (including orange for the beak and red for the body and the little strip of black between the beak and the body), she got the little peak on the top of the head (I'd watched her draw this, so I also know that she made the pencil marks go up into the peak, not across, making the texture even more like the feathers on the cardinal.  I just realized that I forgot to ask her about that detail to see if it was intentional.)

 Next, she drew this oriole. Again, the beak is white and the belly and underside of the tail are a bright contrast.

All of this drawing took probably less than 15 minutes and honestly, she went back to being whiny (but maybe slightly less so) afterwards, but it was such a bright spot in our day.  If I had tried to hand her the bird book and asked her to draw some of the birds, this would NEVER have happened. I am curious to see if it will go anywhere further. We filled the bird feeders to see if maybe some of these birds would come to visit us.

A few days later, she saw me using my sewing machine to sew face masks for our family.  She wanted to use the machine, so I said we'd try sewing together the next morning (our schedule didn't suit to do it right then). The next morning, she played first with the magnetic pin cushion.  She noticed that the strip of metal also stuck to the magnet and interestingly, the pins could also magnetically stick to the strip of metal (even if neither were touching the magnet!). She told me her theory for why that was. Then, she arranged the pins so they would stand up like a tent:

 I was tempted to brush past this pincushion play to get to the sewing parts, but I realized that this play with the pincushion had some great lessons about metals and magnetism, so I waited until she was done exploring those properties.

I started the sewing project with a vague idea that maybe she'd like to sew a face mask to, but instead she wanted to sew a dress for her doll. Although I gave a few pieces of instruction about how to use the sewing machine (and talked about how the fabric needed to be big enough to go all the way around her if she wanted to wear it like a shirt which I probably should have just let her figure out on her own), she pretty much made this shirt all by herself:

And then she had a great time, cutting small scraps of fabric and running them through the machine, figuring out how the backstitch button worked, learning when to stop and start and how to clip the threads afterwards.  The only instruction I gave during that time was that with my machine you have to hold the loose ends of your thread for your first few stitches or it will get all balled up on the backside of your fabric and make a giant tangled mess, so I helped her learn how to make sure the threads were long enough and how to hold them.  She also experimented (under my close supervision!) with the iron to learn how it works.

And yet, these are only the play elements that I've taken photos of.  They're the types of play that excite me, but there are SO many other ways that my kids play that I don't photograph.  Endless role-playing with dolls and stuffed animals and "and then YOU say..." types of instructions that flow easily from one kid to the other, sharing the lead in creating the stories. There's the play that happens in Minecraft, exploring and creating worlds, connected together despite being on two screens. There's even a type of play that centers around seeing what they can get away with before mom or dad notices.  I'm trying to remember to recognize all of the different kinds of play and find value in all of it. Even the kinds that make an enormous mess or sound like fighting.

What sorts of play are happening at your house?

True Play during quarantine?

 

What does True Play look like at home, during a quarantine?  This is a question I've been asking myself a LOT recently. At the beginning of this new era, I found myself wishing that my children would be the kinds of kids that would quietly entertain themselves all day long with paper and crayons and be neat and tidy and maybe even take a nap every once in awhile. (note: I'm pretty sure these fictional children do not exist and if your children are like this, I don't want to hear about it.). Instead, my kids are loud, messy, argue a LOT and seemed to want to spend all of their time looking at a screen of one kind or another. They could be convinced to try a puzzle for 3 minutes or cajoled into building a fort for about 5 minutes but none of the wonderful activities distractions I came up with seemed to have any sticking power. 

Then one morning, my son brought a cardboard box up from our increasingly large pile of boxes in the basement and asked if he could use it.  I happily granted permission and he gathered a few other supplies and disappeared for awhile, then emerged with this:

 It's a mask based on the Minecraft version of a Five Night's at Freddy's character named Springtrap.  I'm not crazy about the whole FNAF thing and Springtrap is a really creepy looking character, but my kid spent a really long time on this project and he was so proud of it and I was deeply impressed by the level of detail he'd included.  Those teeth! The little scrappy bits coming off of the ear!  The fact that he'd made the mouth able to open and close! Wow!

 A week or so later, my son again came to me and asked if he could use the hot glue gun.  I had a moment of hesitation (hot glue burns are so familiar to me) but then I remembered all of the kids in Anji who use hot glue guns all the time and I took a deep breath and said, "sure!  Let me dig out my old glue gun if I can find it...." Again, after an entire morning of both kids being deeply engaged in hot glue creations, this is what came out:

 An improved mask design (now with a more 3D nose!) plus a new mask for his sister based on the FNAF character of Foxy:

 The strap to keep Foxy's mask on was an interesting feat of engineering.  I REALLY wanted to suggest elastic or punching holes in the mask and tying knots, but I kept my mouth closed because I could see the wheels turning in my son's head as he came up with idea on his own (an old shoelace in his room!), tried his idea (hot gluing the shoelace onto the mask), realized his first attempt wouldn't work (it was too small and popped off as soon as she tried to put it on) and adjusted his design (hot gluing another piece of shoelace onto the original shoelace to lengthen it) in a way that I was SURE wouldn't work ... but guess what? It DID work and he was thrilled to have solved it by himself and I was thrilled to discover a new solution to a problem that I'd thought only had one solution. These thrilling moments can only happen when we as adults have "eyes open, ears open, hands down, mouth closed, heart open."

 And the little sister?  oh boy.  Nothing was safe from the hot glue gun.  Everything within reach was glued together by the end of the morning.  And only one hot glue burn on a fingertip and a lesson learned about how heat can transfer through metal when you're trying to put hot glue on something metal.  And they'd burned through my entire stash of hot glue sticks.

 Honestly, I was so excited about how engaged they'd been with the hot glue that I ordered a second hot glue gun (with a low-temp option) and two more packages of hot glue sticks. The day after new supplies arrived, my daughter created this sculpture below (I love how she's used the actual hot glue sticks AS structural pieces!).

 My son kept asking me for some yellow fabric so that he could cover his mask, but I didn't have any, so when I finally had built up enough courage, I brought out the set of tempera paints (not just the watercolor pans) that I'd bought. This is challenging for me.  As much as I love painting and seeing kids paint, I still have a sense of anxiety about kids "wasting" paint or making giant messes.  So I set it up in a way to try to alleviate some of my own anxiousness (kids can pick up on adult anxiety and it makes the play much less fun) by covering the picnic table with some packing paper and asking the kids to change into "messy clothes."  I gotta say that this palette pictured below still sort of stressed me out, but you know what?  There was still plenty of paint left at the end of this project and it's all washable, so maybe we just need to bring it out more often so I can get over it?  And, as one of my Anji Play friends pointed out, if they DO use up all of the paint or mix two whole jars together and it turns into a big muddy colored mess, those are all great life lessons to learn as well.

 By the end of the day, this is how the mask (and my happy son) looked:

So... is the answer to how to do True Play at home -- go get hot glue and tempera paint?  NO!  The answer is to listen to your kids -- what are they interested in?  What do they want to do?  What materials or conditions or space do they need in order to do the things they want to do? Are you able to provide those? If not, ask your child to brainstorm with you about what you could use that you already have to reach the same end goal. Our children are not empty vessels waiting to be filled with information that we dump into them.  Our children are sources of new ideas just waiting for the right conditions to blossom.  How can we help to create those conditions?  Sometimes with simple questions: "What would you like to do today? What do you need in order to do that?" And if your kids are like mine and their first response would something like be "Minecraft all day" you can either choose to embrace the creativity that Minecraft allows OR you can set a limit within your question like "What would you like to do today off-screen?" If your child has been getting a lot more screentime than usual (like mine have), the transition off the screens might be really difficult (mine threw a 45 minute rant yesterday), but maybe, just maybe, once you've given them a chance to work through that transition they'll be able to rediscover true play in whatever way works best for them.

How have you been playing lately?  Have you been able to step back, pay attention with curiosity, keep your suggestions to yourself and have an open heart?  I'd love to hear about the adventures in play that are happening at your house!

AnjiPlayDate Updates!

 
I've really come to understand over the past few years the huge importance of telling the story of our library programs, not just to our library users, but also to internal stakeholders.  For our AnjiPlayDate program in 2020, that looks like a monthly one-page "update" that I put together with photos and anecdotes from the past month and send to those folks that benefit from hearing these stories.  We might also decide to share them on social media (once the hubbub around our newest library opening next week settles a bit!).  In the meantime, here are updates about the Anji Play programming at the beginning of 2020. Enjoy!

 January 2020 
February 2020

Videos from 1st Annual True Play Conference now available online!

If you wished you could attend the 1st Annual True Play Conference in Anji County this past May but just couldn't make it.... good news!  The presentations are all now online and available for free!

Follow this link to see the whole list.

My personal favorite presenters were:

Ms Cheng  the founder of Anji Play

Cas Holman, play materials designer

Principal Sheng Yi from Jiguan Kindergarten in Anji

Dr. Mariana Brussoni who studies risk in play

Dr. Andreas Roepstorff from Aarhus University discussing the paradox of studying/analyzing true play

I also really liked some of the points that Peter Mangione made in his presentation.

And of course, here's a link to my presentation in case you'd like to watch that.

We're hard at work creating the schedule for the 2020 True Play Conference!  details soon!

Top Ten Wild Rumpus innovations and experiments: 2019 edition

Every year we try new things at the Wild Rumpus (it's constantly changing just like the schools in Anji!).  Here are a few of the new things we're trying out this year:

1. Pre-series orientation for all staff and volunteers:
This one was a no-brainer.  I can't believe it took us four years to actually organize an orientation, but I guess in year's past there weren't quiiiiiite this many people on the crew and mostly we were still scrambling just to keep up.  This year, we invited all volunteers to attend one of two orientations were we gave a brief introduction to the Anji Play approach, talked about how the Wild Rumpus structure is different than the Anji Schools' structure, then talked through roles/responsibilities and what they should expect to see and do at a Wild Rumpus.  We didn't do an official survey afterwards, but verbal feedback was 100% positive and this will be part of our routine every year from now on.
Verdict: This one's a keeper!

2. Post-Rumpus Huddle + Just Press Record app:
Last year, this happened spontaneously once or twice and it worked so nicely we decided to make a quick post-Rumpus staff/volunteer reflection time part of the schedule for every program.  Holly discovered an app called "Just Press Record" that not only records (by just pressing one button) but also transcribes (albeit not always accurately) everything that's said on the recording.  And then all recordings created while signed in to the same account will also show up on a website making it SUPER SIMPLE to grab quotes for our weekly Rumpus Report (a winning innovation from 2018).  Bonus: there's also an Apple Watch version of the app! Fancy apps aside, the conversations that happen at the end of the night are my absolute favorite part.  It's a chance for everyone to share and reflect on what they've just observed while it's still fresh in their mind.  I hear SO many great stories that were simply lost in the past because I'd never asked (good grief)! This clearly fits in with the Anji Play model which incorporates reflection not just for the students but also for the teachers and the principals and the administrators and up and up and up...
Verdict: definitely a keeper.

3. Sprocket Printer:
I've been trying for years to figure out how we can display photos of kids playing at the Wild Rumpus itself.  I have no classroom walls to showcase them on -- one of our parks doesn't even HAVE any walls! One of the biggest hurdles has been remembering to print the photos when I get back into the library and then remembering to take those printed photos to the park the next time and figuring out how to display them.  This year, we are trying the Sprocket Printer by HP.  It's a wireless photo printer that makes little 2x3" sticky-backed photos and it's only about the size of two cell phones stacked on top of each other. We are also using the photos as an incentive to get people to try the GooseChase app described below as we've promised to print a photo that they submit in the app for them to keep as a souvenir.  We've already had two (admittedly RAINY) weeks of the Wild Rumpus and so far, I've printed only one photo for a Wild Rumpus participant on it.  Maybe next week, I'll ask a volunteer to go in and choose a few demonstration photos to print and post on our new sandwich board sign...
Verdict: Jury's still out on this one.

4. GooseChase App:
One of my goals is to try to get more parents taking pictures and videos of their kids during Anji Play events. Our newest librarian lead, Jane Kelly, discovered this fantastic app called GooseChase. It's a photo scavenger hunt app and is free to download.  We were able to create a different scavenger hunt for each Wild Rumpus event this summer and include prompts like, "Take a picture of your child doing something that surprises you." or "What was your favorite kind of play as a child?  Write and tell us about it." I love the usability and the functions of this app (enough that we actually paid for the EDU upgrade to test it out) and I can see using it in lots of other library settings as well.  Unfortunately, so far we haven't been getting a lot of participation yet.
Verdict: Jury's still out.

5. Portable battery packs:
Another innovation by Holly Storck-Post! With an iPad that stays on the trailer for book circulation,  an iPod touch that stays on the trailer for volunteers to use to take photos during the program, the Sprocket Printer, a mobile hotspot and a bluetooth speaker, there's a lot of things that need to be charged at the parks.  And not all of the parks have power outlets.  Enter the portable battery pack.  Each of the lead librarians gets a battery pack that they can charge up between programs (I keep mine plugged in in my van) and then they can use that to recharge any and all devices at the park on their night.  The one we got is small and light enough to fit easily in my apron pocket while I walk around at the park, has two USB ports so I can charge multiple things at once and it holds enough power to charge up all of those devices if need be.  Plus, Ms. Cheng uses a battery pack whenever she's recording kids, so it must be the right thing to do.  :)
Verdict: BRILLIANT.  TOTALLY WORTH IT.

6. "Ladder" bookshelf:
We like to incorporate circulating books at our Wild Rumpus events (of course) and last year we were lucky enough to land MPL's Book Bike at two out of three weekly events (one park was too far to bike), but this year it didn't work out and so we were looking for something interesting to display books on (we've learned from experience that just putting them out on a table or a book cart does NOT garner much attention), but also something that wouldn't take up much room on the trailer and wouldn't be difficult to set up or take down.  Enter this ladder-y looking bookshelf from Displays2Go.  I love that it has a ladder tie-in and it meets all of our requirements.  Even ducks like it.
Verdict: usability is great (though it is a bit fragile), it remains to be seen whether we'll see much interest in book circulation.

7. Plank wagon:
The incredible maintenance crew of MPL worked together to design a new, sturdy plank storage and mobility vehicle for us.  Last year's design (my own design and construction) was tall, skinny and had to be strapped to a tree or a pole for fear of it tipping over and smooshing someone.  This year, they retrofitted an affordable and sturdy garden wagon with these modifications (see above).
Verdict: SO much easier to roll and way more stable!  We had one bolt fall off and this many planks on one wagon is VERY heavy and the kids are rather interested in riding around on it, so we'll see how it fares over the course of the summer.

8. DeWalt chests:
I bought two of these heavy duty black plastic storage "chests" to store and transport blocks.  I asked the maintenance crew to add two dividers to each one and drill small airholes on the sides below the lip of the lid so that no kids could get stuck in there for way too long.  I love that they have an extending handle like a suitcase and only one set of wheels so that they are less tempting for kids to dump all the blocks out and play bumper cars with them.  They can totally handle the weight of all these blocks too!  Sadly, we found out recently that our trailer is overweight (pro-tip: get a double-axle trailer!) and we had to remove some of the heavier things that aren't getting as much play and the blocks topped that list.  We did add in some mover's dollies to one chest and our Rig-a-ma-Jig Jr. sets for rainy day use to the other chest.
Verdict: Way nicer to use in every way than the wooden book trucks we hauled blocks on for the last few years, but might be overkill for what they're currently hauling around.

9. Staff lanyards:
Another Holly suggestion!  We got lanyards (with clear pockets that ziploc shut!) for all staff and volunteers to wear during the program that include their name and pronoun preference.
Verdict: I always forget to grab my official library nametag, but this one is easy to keep in my purse and bring every week.  Plus, they're cheap to buy in bulk in case someone forgets to bring theirs back they can make another one.
Verdict: Why didn't we do this earlier?

10: Whistles:
What do you do if there's a lost kid in the park?  Or some other emergency situation?  How can you get the attention of the lead librarian quickly or get the whole crew's attention for an announcement? Why a whistle of course!  Suggested by this year's awesome practicum student: Nicole Isaacs!
Verdict: haven't had to use them yet, but it's reassuring to have them there.

Last year's winning innovations that carried through to this year:
--Weekly Rumpus Reflections meetings with all staff and any volunteers who'd like to attend

--Weekly Rumpus Reports (one pagers with photos/stats/quotes/anecdotes and the adult tip of the week) that go to library management and program partners

 --Neon clothespins for kids without photo permissions (though I LOVE that Nicole Hershberger of Cicero Library is using tyvek wristbands instead of clothespins--so much easier to see!)

--matching staff aprons with pockets!  Makes us easier to identify as staff and gives us pockets to hold all of the different handouts and clothespins, etc.

1st Annual True Play Conference, May 2019

 

 This past May I had the incredibly good fortune to be able to return to Anji County, China for a third time, this time to attend the First Annual True Play Conference. I was extra excited that this time I was able to bring along the amazing Holly Storck-Post who is my Anji Play partner extraordinaire (I am SO grateful for her love of spreadsheets and google drive wizardry!) and we were thrilled to be joined by the director of Madison Public Library, Greg Mickells and his wife.

We toured six different Anji kindergartens over the course of two days (whew!) and as always, I learned new things.  One of my big takeaways this time was that the schools of Anji are constantly changing and evolving and always in response to the children -- the teachers are paying such close attention to what is engaging the children and thinking about what changes to the school might enable them to delve even deeper.  They went so far as to add new HILLS to the play areas this time!  In the photo below, the kids were discovering that if they laid ladders end-to-end like this down a hill that they could sled down the hill much more quickly.

 Perhaps the most rewarding part of this trip was being able to watch my colleagues fall in love with Anji Play just as I did on my first trip.  Look at the smiles on their faces:

 I was also extremely honored to be asked to speak about the Wild Rumpus program during the conference.  There were about 300 people in the audience but I didn't find out until later that the live broadcast was estimated to have reached about 4 million viewers!  (gulp!)

 We are very honored that Madison, Wisconsin has been chosen as the site for the Second Annual True Play Conference on July 10-12, 2020 and are excited to host it along with One City Early Learning Center, El Mundo de Ninos,  and other friends of Anji Play here in Madison. 

 

 Mark your calendars!  More details will be posted here (and on Anji Play's website and Facebook page) as they become available. 

(I can't guarantee that the food in Madison will be this cute though!)

A Wild Rumpus Returns!

I just realized I never posted this great summary video of last summer's Wild Rumpus program here on the blog:


This seems like a great opportunity to also remind you that this year's Wild Rumpus begins next week! Each program will run from 5:00-7:30 p.m., starting June 24 and going through August 15.  The Let's Eat Out food trucks will be at each event, or you can pack a picnic dinner.  Check the library's online calendar for last-minute weather cancellation announcements.

Mondays, Brittingham Park
Wednesdays, Haen Family Park
Thursdays, Reindahl Park

Why do we do Anji Play at the library?

I recently pulled together some research and reflections about why we do Anji Play at Madison Public Library. This is something I've thought about a lot over the past three years but I'd never put my thoughts and the research I've read all into one spot before. Click the image above or this link if you'd like to read through it!  Many thanks to UW Professor Rebekah Willett for helping me to organize my thoughts and pull together even more supportive research and to Holly Storck-Post, Rebecca Millerjohn and Jess Hankey for their thoughtful feedback.

AnjiPlayDate update, January 2019

We've had two weeks of AnjiPlayDate so far this session and it has been BUSY!  Attendance has been over 50 people each week and the play has been fascinating.  Here are a few stories that especially warmed my heart during this super cold weather:

During the first week of the session, I met one new mom who was there because I had visited the Play and Learn class that she attends at the Lussier Center on Tuesday mornings and I had mentioned the program to that group.  At first, she was unsure what her role as an adult in this program was (she could tell it was different than Play and Learn), so I talked with her about the importance of carefully observing children in play to see what amazing things they might do.  I checked in with her a little while later and she was delighted to tell me about three situations that her son had figured out on his own, things that she would have stepped in to help him with before trying this approach.

The first was an intellectual risk -- he was building a tower of blocks and couldn't reach the top, and figured out by himself that he could use a circle block as a stepstool to get him high enough to reach the top of the tower.  

The second was a physical risk -- he was balancing with both feet on a three-wheeled scooter and he fell.  When he got back up, he tried standing on the wheels with only one foot and one foot on the ground and was more stable.  

The third was a social risk -- he wanted a four-wheeled scooter that another child also wanted.  She told me that usually she would step in and point out that there was another four-wheeled scooter nearby, but she tried just watching and pretty soon, he gave up arguing with the other child and went and found a three-wheeled scooter to play with instead.

She thanked me for this opportunity to try something new and this chance to be surprised by what her son could do on his own.  I congratulated her on her willingness to try this approach and shared her excitement about what she'd learned about her son.  This is a fantastic experience for a first-time attender and I can't wait to see what unfolds in upcoming weeks!

 

 

During week 2, another mom told me that she had shown her daughter the pictures and videos she'd captured during play last week and when her daughter was excited to watch them over and over and talk about them to both parents, she really could see how much her comprehension of what had happened during the play increased through that repetition.  It was so great to see this lightbulb moment for the mom!  She also told me that she decided to try letting all of her kids (two can't attend AnjiPlayDate because they're in school) sort out their own sibling squabbles and she was shocked at how quickly they stepped up their negotiation and conflict resolution skills as soon as they realized mom wasn't going to step in and fix it for them. 

 

 

Another mom who homeschools her children shared with me that she liked the play story notebook idea so much that she bought each of her kids a blank notebook to create their own play stories in more frequently!

 

These stories really drive home for me the impact that Anji Play can have on children beyond the time to play during the program itself.  Thank you to all of these parents for sharing their stories with me!